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Writer's pictureArjun Chaturvedi

The Beauty of College

Updated: May 26, 2020


Community is a 2009 NBC/Yahoo Sitcom focused on a group of students at Greendale community college in Colorado. The sitcom is one of the few tv shows I have had the interest and will to finish. I don’t normally commit to a television show, but Community has had me invested in the stories and characters in ways no other show has ever done. The show stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danni Pudi, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole-Brown, and Chevy Chase as members of a college study group. The series starts when Joel McHale’s character, Jeff Winger, forms a study group as a way to get closer to a girl. The characters create a close bond, and become close friends as the series progresses. In the first episode, Community feels like an average sitcom. But as the show gets going, Community becomes one of the most original and unique shows ever put on screen.

One of Community’s greatest strengths is its colorful cast of vibrant and unique characters. Each character has a certain gimmick that allows them to contribute to the story. Jeff Winger is a somewhat selfish and egoistic ex-lawyer, but learns to care for his friends. Jacob’s Britta Perry is a psychologist-wanna-be who desperately wants to be good at reading people. Danni Pudi’s Abed Nadir is a socially akward film-buff who enjoys making commentary on the situations the study group finds themselves in. Alison Brie plays Annie Edison, a sweet and kind “nice-girl” who is extremely intelligent but also somewhat highly-strung. Donald Glover plays Troy Barnes, the sensitive jock with a heart. Yvette Nicole-Brown plays Shirley Bennet, a kind-hearted Christian mom with a passive temper. Finally, Chevy Chase plays Pierce Hawthrone, a rude and senile dinosaur whose values had not changed with the times. This colorful and dynamic cast is what makes Community so refreshing and vibrant. Each character bounces off each other with hilarious jokes and emotional moments, While each of the main (and recurring) characters are eccentric and insane in their own right, their personalities are so defined that the viewer feels like they’ve known the characters all their lives. This is why exchanges between the characters are so believable. When Abed talks to Troy, who are best friends on the show, you don’t take in well-written dialogue, you take in an exchange between two people who are standing in front of you. This feat is really something I’ve never seen in a tv show. Even shows like Killing Eve (yes I couldn’t have picked a more different comparison), with great dialogue and writing, still don’t have the spark in exchanges that Community has. The writing in Community blends the right amount of believability and absurdity for very realistic but still interesting exchanges between characters.

Another reason Community is such a great series is because of the way it blends genres. With Community’s unique environment, various genres are displayed through Greendale College’s plethora of bizarre class selections (And in general Greendale is an environment that encourages different genres). For example, a Law and Order parody is presented when a potato is “murdered” in a lab. In another situation, The main cast goes through a therapy session with puppets in a musical parody. In another episode, a paintball war erupts and suddenly the school is thrust into a high stakes war. And an homage to David Fincher films is shown when a very dangerous assailant mysteriously enters the Greendale campus. If a genre exists, there is no doubt that Community has touched on it. Such an affinity for genre-blending adds a great element of unpredictability to each episode of Community. Yet familiar elements are inserted into the show, so that novelty does not become unrecognizable to the viewer. The genre-shifting adventures are molded around the characters to create a unique yet familiar episode. Because of this, Community has such a strong catalogue of memorable episodes.

Finally, Community’s greatest strength is the immense amount of heart in each episode. Every episode contains a lesson that the characters learn. These lessons are taught by another character’s insight, or sometimes by the situation teaching them something. Each character perceives the world in a unique way. Abed sees the world as a film, which can be a source of comfort or tension. Britta sees the problems in the world, and often pushes them on her friends. Shirley pushes her Christian values onto the other characters, even if they push them away. Troy exerts coolness onto the group, and also keeps his best friend Abed in control. Jeff often manipulates environments to assist his selfish needs, but then quickly attempts to revert the problems he created. And Pierce provides wisdom, but also occasionally acts as an antagonist to unite the group against him. Each character has something to offer. The relationships between the friends creates a powerful emotional backbone for Community. The writers of Community poured an amazing amount of emotion in the show. An episode will never pass without improving on the characters, the main focus and heart of Community.

If you’ve never seen Community, watch an episode. See if you get into it, because I assure you that you will. Community is such an underrated television series, but one that is so beloved for people who’ve seen it. Please check this show out, for a powerful and consistent series (Season 4 isn’t terrible, it’s just a low for Community. There are two episodes in Season 4 I really enjoyed) that will ensure a unique and entertaining experience.




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